Saturday, 14 January 2012

Tiki twin fin late 70s

Great little twin fin probably shaped by Tiki head shaper John Hall from Australia. This board was bought off ebay by a friend who paid more than I would be comfortable with , and then found it was too small for him. I ended up swapping it with an Aussie singlefin I got down the car boot sale - so was pretty happy with that.Dimensions are 5'11 x 20 1/2 x 2 1/2.It was probably made around 1979 in Braunton, north Devon and is a good quality board. I like the double hips into the roundtail, the arrow- so you remember which way to go, and the spray artwork . The shape is feeling its way towards the thrusters of the early 80s, and has the large semi keel G&S star fins, the ones that snap in, and then need to be whacked from behind to get them out.The spray on the back is done by a couple of dudes from Australia called the Hewett bros. Sporting glam rock meets Brian May hair do's these guys were some of the best sprayers working in the UK in the late 70s/ early 80s , working in their 'natural fantasy' style and also doing some nice full board wave sprays. The spray on this board is of a dream bubble of flawless tropical rights and a wierd looking island, which is laid over some cosmic purple palms.

Tiki showroom around '79/80. Hewett bros spray on show.

1979 John Hall on the right. He went on to make windsurfers in the 80s.